Combermere take first innings over Alexandra

published by ikhan on Wed, 08/07/2013 - 21:55

Barbados Advocate article.

Bridgetown, Barbados - It took some disciplined bowling and hard work in the field, but defending cham-pions Nicholls Baking Combermere were able to finish with the first innings lead on Day 1 of the Barbados Cricket Association LIME Under-15 Final.

Leaving Alexandra with 119 needed to take the first innings, they were able to hold out long enough for a three-run lead at the LIME ground in Wildey.

Racking up 118, four balls shy of their 35 overs, Combermere saw all of their men back into the pavilion in just over two hours. Opening batsman Reniel Smith got things started for his team with 12 runs, while Thaddeus Chase (12) and Shakkae Marshall (19) also got into double figures. However, it was skipper Najee Holder that was the star of the innings. The big lad had a strong captain’s knock with a run-a-ball 40, inclusive of two fours and the day’s only six.

Marshall and Holder shared a 55-run partnership before it was broken with Marshall’s exit in the 27th over. After Holder was caught by Shaquane Cave at long-on, things went downhill for Combermere with wickets going cheaply left, right and centre.

Alexandra didn’t do too badly for themselves in the field and Keemar Burrowes proved to be the bane of the Combermere order’s existence. Burrowes was deadly with the cork and snagged six scalps for 22 runs, inclusive of the dangerous Waterford captain. Burrowes got some assistance from Jherard Morris-Sealy, who was good for two wickets for only 11 runs in his five-over spell.

In their chase, Alexandra were off to a shaky start, with Morris-Sealy and Cave going back into the pavilion with only seven runs on the board. Morris-Sealy’s opening partner, Shacolby Corbin, led the the charge with 32 runs before being bowled by Runeko Layne. Corbin shared the stage with five other batsmen before being dismissed, but the greatest partnership came out of the pairing with Brendan Johnson (7) as the duo put up 40 runs together. Deshawn Toppin (17), Joshua Bishop (11) and Alexandra’s captain, Burrowes (10), all reached double figures in the reply.

Unlike the one-sided bowling attack in the Alexandra camp, the wickets fell across the board to Renaldo Callender (2-8), Indal Persaud (2-15) and Marshall (2-16). With the bowlers not giving away anything and Holder keeping the fielding tight, Alexandra were forced to fight for every single they could get. As the overs continued to dwindle away, Alexandra had made it to 82 for the loss of six with six wickets left. They started to fight back and got themselves within striking range of the defending champions, with only nine runs needed from the final over with two wickets in hand.

Holder claimed the last over for himself and on his first ball was hit for four in long leg. A single on the second ball left Alexandra needing four from four balls. Two dots later, Toppin was sent back to the pavilion when Holder dislocated his middle stump. With one ball left and four runs needed, the only thing to do was to swing and the ball only made it to cover point before being sent back in to see Rikeem Headley run out for a duck.